Disposable diapers are primarily made up of plastic and cellulose. The plastic provides a moisture-proof lining on the outside of the diaper and the cellulose provides the bulky absorbent media on the inside. The diaper essentially provides a bag that is worn by a human being. The cellulose holds and retains all moisture, while the plastic ensures that there is no leakage through the bag. Some disposable diapers are marketed under names such as "ultra thin" or the like. These diapers use less cellulose and include a super absorbent molecule (SAM), which absorbs as much as one thousand times its own mass in water.
Disposable diapers have become immensely popular. Disposable diapers of course are used just once and thrown away after they have been soiled with waste material. The ultimate disposal of the diapers typically involves transporting them to the local landfill. Environmentalists decry this disposal of diapers as being wasteful both in the manufacture and disposal of the diapers. The manufacture of disposable diapers requires forest products to obtain the necessary cellulose, while the disposal of the diapers utilizes valuable landfill space. Many communities around the country are seeing the exhaustion of their landfill space in conjunction with the political difficulty of finding new landfill space. Thus, there is a real need to reclaim the materials in disposable diapers.
The same can also be said of newspapers, which are read and then thrown away. Recycling of newsprint from newspapers has been going on for some time. There is also a need to recycle the paper found in disposed products such as office waste. Such products include writing paper, typing paper, copier paper, and paper from printers (such as used in conjunction with computers). A typical first step in recycling materials such as newsprint is cleaning to remove any contaminants. In the case of newsprint, the paper is cleaned to remove ink. Prior art methods of recycling newsprint involves soaking the newsprint in vats. The newsprint is then transferred to other, successively cleaner vats. Unforttmately, the ink follows the newsprint from vat to vat, making it difficult to satisfactorily clean the newsprint. Other materials, such as rubber and glass, are cleaned in the first steps of recycling.
There is also a need to recycle the materials from laminated paper goods such as milk cartons and drink or juice boxes. These goods utilize sheets of materials that include multiple layers of plastic and paper. The paper is typically interposed between layers of plastic, in essence providing some measure of waterproofing to the paper. In addition, the paper can be of a high wet strength, wherein the paper is difficult to separate from the plastic layers and also difficult to pulp. In the prior art, there is Ponzielli, U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,717, which uses a hydrapulper-like apparatus to process such goods. Ponzielli acts like a blender to shred the goods during processing. Such shredding diminishes the commercial value of the recycled materials.